Apple to Ship iPhone 4S in October: Analyst

Another analyst has weighed in with his predictions of when Apple will unveil the much-awaited next iPhone.

Many say the iPhone 5 should emerge in late September or early October, citing reports its production has begun.

But a Wall Street analyst believes Apple will launch the iPhone 4S, instead of the widely expected iPhone 5, in September and would begin shipping in October.

iPhone 4S refresh corresponding with iOS 5 and iCloud launch in September, shipping in October, Susquehanna Financial analyst, Jeffrey Fidacaro, wrote in a note to clients.

Recall that we have been highlighting since our supply chain update in early June a potential one-to-two-month pushout for iPhone 4S production from our initial July estimate, which meant an October/November ship date, the analyst added.

Analysts expect the iPhone 4S to have more evolutionary than revolutionary changes, and the device would feature a better camera and a different case. The iPhone 4S would also be a low-cost device, targeted at prepaid and emerging markets.

But iPhone 4S is expected to run iOS 5, which will be necessary to run the new cloud-based services. This will maintain the unity of the Apple iOS code base, and likely increase low-cost iPhone shipments, but there could be greater cannibalization of higher-end iPhones as differentiation is lessened.

The iPhone 5, expected to be a 4G device with a materially revamped user interface, won't appear until next year, some say.

Of note, we see an iPhone 4S this fall, an iPad 3, and an iPhone 5 with a materially revamped user interface and 4G early next year. We also believe Apple will move more materially into the 'connected TV' space, Wedbush Morgan analyst Scott Sutherland wrote in a note to clients.

In the recently reported June quarter, iPhone units stole the spotlight for the second consecutive quarter and significantly exceeded consensus estimates. iPhone sales surged 142 percent to 20.34 million units in the third quarter.

Fidacaro expects Apple to ship 22.3 million iPhones for the September quarter and 25.6 million for the December quarter. For fiscal 2012, the analyst expects iPhone shipments to rise 27 percent from last year to 98.2 million.